Production of valuable hydrocarbons from carbonaceous materials which are in the liquid state



Jan. 3l, 1933. M. PIER El' Al. 1,895,769`

I PRODUCTION 0F VALUABLE HYnRocARBoNs FROM cARBoNAcEoUs MATERIALS WHICH ARE IN THE LIQUID STATE FiledNov. 6. 1928 Fi3.1.- FISI Figf. IT" `l A T5 maL'z fas Pier' Eugen-nhes Kar? Winkler VINVENTORS ATTORNEYS mesma Jan. 31, `1933 ,y

UNITED STATES PATENT oFF-lcs m Pnl, F mlm, AND EUGEN AN'JBHES All' D KAEL WINKLER, 0F LUD- WIGBHlU-ON-THl-lml, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS, BY IESNE ASSIGNIINTS, TO

Hmm-I. G. nm, 0l' LINDEN, NW JERSEY, A

CORPORATION 0F DELA- rnonuorxox o r vALUma mnocnaons raox omonacaous ummm wmcn an! nr 'man mcuxnsra'rn l Y application nea november s, ma, semi n. 311,515, and 'i-seraiay'f'lxovgmber 1o, 1921.

This invention relates to improvements in the production of valuable hydrocarbonsfrom carboraceous materials which are in the liquid state, such as coal suspensions or pastes thereof, tars, mineral oils and the like.

In the roduction of valuable liquid hydrocarbons rom various sorts of coal, tars, mineral oils and the like, by treatment in a liquid or suspended or pasty condition with hydrogen or gases supplying the same, at elevated temperatures and under pressure, the degree of the 4conversion is often very 1njuriousl affected because the heavy, asphaltic p ucts, and also the catalysts, when such are employed for example in the form of suspensions, sink to the bottom of the re.- action vessel, or accumulate at ysome place or other, and thus are wasted so far as the further course of the reaction is concerned. Such formation of coke, or toother inconveniences, and has therefore to be removed in a l troublesome manner as for example by valves for removing sludge, siphons and the like.

l 28 Rotary discs, which dip into the liquid under 86 ing that, in part of the reaction material, an

accumulation of heavy constituents, tending to form asphaltum and coke occurs.

We have now found that the operation hereinbefore referred to may be carried out with advantage by imparting to the material under treatment such an lintensive state of Y movement in all those parts of the apparatus,

whereit is subjected to heat treatment, that no injurious local thjckenin occurs, and en- Y suring a good distribution o thehydrogenating gas in th e product under treatment, the participants 1n the reaction being preferably admitted' and removed in a continuous manner.

' 'A particular advantage of this manner of the etlicient contact betv'i'een t local thickening also readily leads to the working consi l "-.thefact that the troublesome removal 'ef'.fthe .viscous constituents is dispensed j with,since" theyaare continuously and completely remixedwith. lighter portions and are again passed lthrou'gh the reaction zone. This manner of iavorkin4 also increases 'ehigh boiling products and the hydfogefnatinl gas." Moreover, the process hereindescrif.q is excellently adapted to the employment'of catal sts when operatinv in the liquid phase", since t ey are constantly'lirought in to intimate contact with the materials under 'treatment` and cannot adhere, in conjunction with thickened products, to the bottom and sides of the reaction vessel.

The rocess in accordance with the'present inventlon is carried out with advantage in lvertical furnaces, under an elevated ressure,

preferably above 30 atmospheres. ressures, forexample of 50, 100, 200 or even 1000 atmospheres come into question depending on the de sired, gher pressures leading to -a more intensive treatment.

The aforesaid state of motion of the liquid materials under treatment may, for example, be set up b introducing the hydrogenatlng gas throu numerous small apertures, for example t rough perforated or sieve plates, which, if desired, are arranged in several of destructive hydrogenation de' layers one above the other and/or through one or several nozzles, which preferably have the form of ejectors, under a pressure considerably inexcess of that prevailing in the reaction vessel, in vsuch a manner that a continuous drawing up and a whirlin motion of 'vortex character is set up in the iquid materials, accompanied by a very thorough intermixing of the said materials with gas bubbles of smallest dimensions. In place of or besides a high excess of. ressure a mechanical stirrer may beemp oyed, which, if desired, may also be provided with apertures or nozzles for. the introduction of hydrogenating gas. Y

The movement of the liquid products, with the object of preventingv injurious local thickening may also be suitably effected by circulating the liquid reaction materials in a hot, state. This may bc brought about by special mechanical appliances lnside the reaction furnace, or also by conducting the liquid materialout of the furnace and, back into it again'. In the latter case care must be takenvto prevent any coolin which might result in local deposition of iickened rtions.v The circulation may be producedxby pumps of the'most varied types such as reciprocating pumps, valveless pumps, for example` geared pum centrifugal pumps 'and the like. This `met od of working enables the rate of flow to be greatly increased. Several liquid circulations may also be produced simultaneously. Under certain circumstances it is also of advantage to maintain a hot as circulation, the reaction products formed bef ing separated oif either periodically or continuously.- All those catalystssuitable forthe art of destructive hydrogenation may be employed, in articular those immune to poison-v in by su fur.. As examples of catalysts sultable for the purposes of the present invention may bev mentloned catalysts comprising com oundscontainin Vsulfur in combination, or example meta ic sulfids, in particular the heavy metal sulfids and more especially those of the iron group, either alone or as mixtures with one another or with metals, metalloids, activecharcoal, coke or the like or with oxids, hydroxids, or carbonates. or with other materials of a catalytic or of inert nature. The sulfur may also be combined with the catalyst by adding sultes or sulfates thereto or by the addition of sulfur to metals or oxids. A very suitable catalyst maybe obtained by treating iron with hydrogen suld at an elevated temperature. Particularly suitable catalysts of this class are for example cobalt sulfid, iron sulfid, 'zinc sulfid, nickel sulfid, man anese sulfid and the like or mixtures thereo for exam le, mixtures of cobalt sulfid with nickel su iid or of cobalt sulfid with manganese sulfid, or of cobalt sulfid mixed with iron sulfid, or with zinc slulfd or with aluminium oxid with or without an yaddition of inert substances.

i Catalysts consisting of or containing a metal of the sixth group of the periodic system, such as molybdenum, chromium, tungsten or uramum or the compounds therof or mixtures of these substances are also particularly suitable. As examples of this type of catalysts may be mentioned molybdic acid or ammonium molybdate, tungsten sulfid, tungstic acid, chromium hydroxid and chromic acid. Mixtures of chromium or tungsten with other catalysts such as with cobalt, nickel or iron may also be em loyed. Activation of the catalysts or the a dition of substances increasing their mechanical strength may also be of advantage, this 4being effected for example with substances having a basic action, such as potassium carbonate, aluminium hydroxid or calcium carbonate. Carriasoman ers such as lumps -of aluminium silicate may also be employed with advantage. As fur- -ther catalysts may be mentioned oxidic catalysts comprisin zinc oxid, chromium oxid or manganese oxi or mixtures of these, if desired, with an addition of a compound containing tixed nitrogen such as ammonium sulfid or such nitrids as are comparatively stable against the action of water, for example silicon nitrid or titanium nitrid. These said oxidic catalysts may be employed in conjunction with other substances, such as lumps of fire-clay, quartz, asbestos, pumice, coke, active charcoal, metals, in articular heavy metals, metalloids, oxids, su fids, carbids, and the like and mixtures thereof with the said substances. As still, further examples of suitable catalysts may be mentioned such containing at least one of the elements silver, copper, cadmium, lead, bismuth, tin in the form of its compounds, further the diicultly reducible metal oxids or carbonatos, such as magnesia, lithium carbonate, boric acid, alumina, the rare earths, including the diilicultly reducibleoxids of metals from the 4th group of the periodic system, or the oxido of zinc, manganese or vanadium. The catalysts may contain several of these substances or also other substances, for exam le metals from the 8th group of the periodic system, such as iron. As specific'cxamples of these catalysts may be mentioned such obtained by impregnating porous refractory materials with solutions of lead nitrate, or of stannous chlorid, silver nitrate or of copper hydroxid, either alone or in admixture with compounds of iron, cobalt and the like. Further may be mentioned catalysts containing the oxids of silver or of titanium, or lithium carbonate, magnesite, manganous oxid, silver borate or mixtures of copper oxid with cerous oxid or of silver with cobalt oxid and the like, and also orous refractory masses coated with vana ium oxid or lthorium oxid or with a mixture of compounds of uranium and zinc or of silver and tungsten. These latter compounds may also be employed as such without application to thek said porous materials. As further suitable catalysts may be mentioned catalysts containin active charcoal or the metalloids boron, si lcon, phosphorus, arsenic` selenium, tellurium or the'com ounds thereof or halogens. These metalloi s ma advantageously be employed together wit elements from the 2nd to the 8th group of the periodic system, in particular such selected from the 6th group of the periodic system. The catalysts may for example contain the following acids or their salts, namely phosphoric acid, arsenious acid,.silicic acid, boric assunse acid, calcium phosphate, molybdenum hosphate, tungsten phosphate, iron phosp ate, aluminium phosphate, arsenious acid together with molybdenum or tungsten, silicids, for exam le iron silicid containing 15 vper cent of si icon, active silica, hydrosilicates,'borids such as titanium borid or yiron -borid, calcium ilnorid, molybdenum with 10 of nitrogen ma also be advantageous, Such nitrids as are airly stable against the action of water have been found to give particularly good results. As further exam les of suitable catalysts may be mentione such containing one or more elements from (a) the 4th to the-8th oup of the periodic system, in particular suc from the 6th group of the periodic system and more particularly molybdenum together with (6)) small amounts of other elements from the 2nd to the 7th group of the periodic system or copper or lgold or the compounds thereof. The elements from the 2nd and 3rd groups may however also be employed in large amounts. Thus mixtures containing molecular proportions f molybdic acid with magnesia or with copper or with aluminium hydroxid, or mixtures of tungstic acid with zinc oxid or of vanadium oxid with magnesia furnish .good results. Excellent catalysts are further molybdic acid with about l0 per cent of chromium oxid or of vanadium oxid, molybdic acid with about 10 per cent of uranium oxid or of thorium oxid or of manganous oxid, further tungstic acid containing about 10 per cent of chromium oxid or of a mixture of uranium oxid, cobalt and a small amount of chromium oxid. Again another very suitable class of catalysts is formed by the noble metals or lead or tin or compounds thereof on carriers, in particular on magnesia or magnesite or chromium oxid. As examples of this class of catalysts maybe mentioned ruthenium, palladium, platinum, gold, lead or tin er magnesia or magnesite or platinum or gold or chromium oxid. Catalysts containing small amounts of silver or of mixturesy of copper with zinc or with cadmium in a free state or in chemical combination and preferably also boron or aluminium or silicon or titanium, or vanadium, or tantalum or chromium or molybdenum or tungsten or cobalt in a free or combined stateor mixtures of these Examples of such catalysts are tantalic acid containin 10 per cent of silver, molybdic acidl containing 10 per cent of silver or silica containing 10 per cent of a mixture of copperaiid zinc. A ain another class of catalysts consists of re ractory metals or alloys on which small amounts of solid oxids of elements havin a catalytic actioii from the 3rd to the 7t group of the periodic system have been deposited. The said metals or their alloys are preferably employed in an etched condition and preferably acidiiied solutions or salts of the said oxids are employed as the etchin agent.

The reaction products are pre erably conducted out of the reaction chamber together with the hydrogenating gas inthe form of va or. After the valuable readily condensab e hydrocarbons and the like have been condensed, the uncondensed gases and va ors are returned to the reaction chamber. en the operation is thus carried out, any removal of liquid products becomes unnecessary; although liquid products may also be removed,4 together with the vaporous products from the reaction chamber, for example by means of siphons, or liquid products alone may be withdrawn at suitable places during the process. The liquid products so withdrawn mag7 be further treated for the roduction of lu ricating oils or other pr ucts of considerable value, if desired.

The operation may also be carried out by moving the liquid products with mechanical dredging devices, such as dredgers, Scrapers, shovels and the like, in such a way, that the whole of the reaction materials are intimately mixed. In this case it is desirable, that the liquid products under treatment should not be allowed to enter the as space above the surface of the liquid. nsequently the c'onveyor or mixing device is preferably so arranged, that it is completel submerged in the liquid. By working in this manner the accumulation of thickenings on the bottom or in other parts of the liquid is prevented because the conveyor device quickly raises and intimately mixes the products, for example, from the lower part of the furnace, where the risk of thickening is greatest. Moreover, according to this method of working, no accumulation of any catalysts which may be employed, can occur.

A further advantageous manner of working according to the present invention consistsv in passing the products under treatment with high linear velocity through the reaction zone. The hot liquid productsl can be removed from and returned to the process with or without the employment of the aforesaid circulation.

A good distribution of the hydrogenating gas in the liquid is at the same time assured as hereinbefore stated, preferably Vby the emizor4 ployment of porous masses, through which the liydrogenating gases are distributed into the liquid under treatment, or by admittingI the hydrogenating gases through numerous nozzles and the like. The hydrogenating as may also be admitted through a small num rof openings, and the good distribution is assured by stirring with such vigor that anucts `by further treatment in the form of vapor with employment of catalysts. For this purpose, the catalysts already mentioned ma be employed.

he initial materials may consist of varieties of coal, in the state of pastes or suspensions, tars, mineral oils and other bitumina or bituminous substances, also the distillation, extraction and conversion products of the same. In the case of solid initial materials, such as varieties of coal and the like, it is advisable to convert them, in the first place into liquid products, bylow-temperature distillation, extraction or hydrogenation under pressure and then to treat these in accordance with the present invention.

' We will further illustrate the invention with reference to the accompanying diagrams.

According to Figure. 1, the introduction of the products to be treated, such as brown coal tar, is effected from the top, at a, whilst the hydrogenating gas is admitted from below, through nozzles b, of which there is preferably a large number. The reaction-liquid 'fills the reaction chamber e up to the level f and is pumped, by a geared pump c, up through the upcast pipe d, a circulation being thus set up in the direction indicated by the arrows. The rate of this internal circulation is controlled by the pump. The products to be recovered pass oi in theform of vapor at g together with hydrogen.

According to Figure 2, the products to be treated are admitted at a1 and the hydrogenating gas through the porous plate b1. The furnace is provided internally with a st-irrer c1. The hot liquid material is'pumped in the direction of the arrow by a pump ell 1 operating at ordinary temperature and by means of a valve chamber d1 which is situated outside the reaction chamber and is maintained at the reaction temperature. Thev hot circulation may also be carried out in the reverse direction.

Other means for producing a strong circu; lation are also possible, such as the employment of two worms (Figure 3) disposedv below the surface of the liquid in a horizontal furnace, and causing the material to move in two directions as indicated by the arrows. Pistons with valves may also be used, which are moved rapidly in one direction and thus carry the liquid product into the upper parts of the furnace, by means of upcast pipes and the like.

Figure 4 represents a modification provided with a dredger mechanism, the said mechanism being completely submerged inthe liquid. The hydrogenating gas is admit-ted at into lower boiling prodrials by destructive hydrogenation in the.

presence of a solidy catalyst which comprises effecting 4the destructive hydrogenation by passing the carbonaceous material in the liquid state and the catalyst into an elongated Ivertical chamber, forcing hydrogen into said chamber and causing a vigorous circulation of said material and catalyst in Well defined streams from one end to the other of said chamber to prevent local thickening of` the substances in said chamber.

2. A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the hydrogen is forced into the chamber through a plurality of small openings to cause a thorough mixing Aof 'the hydrogen with the substances in said chamber.

3. The process of producing valuable liquid hydrocarbons from carbonaceous materials by destructive hydiogenation in thc presence of a solid catalyst which comprises effecting the destructive hydrogenation 'by passing said material in the liquid state and the catalyst into an elongated vertical chambe'r, connecting the upper end of said chamber tothe lower end thereof exterior of said chamber, forcingr hydrogen into said chainber and causing a vigorous, constant, hot circulation of said material andy catalyst from the upper end of said chamber through said connection to the lower end of said chamber to prevent local thickening of the substances in said chamber.

4. A. process as defined in claim 3 wherein the hydrogen is forced int said chamber through a plurality of small openings to cause a thorough mixing of said hydrogen with the materials in said chamber and aiding said mixing by a mechanical agitation.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands. v

MATHIAS PIER. EUGEN ANTHES. KARL WINKLER. 

